Insights from our team members.

TEDxFoggyBottom will be hosting a livestream of Session 4 of TEDMEDon November 2 from 5pm-7pm in District House B207. TEDMED’s mission is to “bridge the gap between science and the public by finding and sharing stories that inform, inspire, engage and provoke action across a broad, passionate community both inside and outside of health and medicine.” After watching talks from 2016 and prior years, the content has only gotten more engaging. TEDMED continues to bring in speakers from around the world who lead their fields in bold, innovative ideas that have the potential to change the world around us. Without a doubt, TEDMED 2017 is an event you’ll want to keep your eyes on.

Speaking with Billy Ward is like drinking hot tea as the fall breeze begins to settle; he makes you feel comfortable and helps you take a moment to realize the small things that really matter. Ward lives in each and every moment with an awareness of what really matters to him. When we spoke to him, he reiterated the importance of relationships with the people in his life, specifically his family. The way he spoke about his love for his family made me visualize the people who I care about, who make my life as whole and beautiful as it is. As he said, realizing that our relationships with other people are the most important things in our lives does not make them easy, but it makes everything else worthwhile.

This year, we carefully considered a better, more eco-friendly, more thoughtful approach, especially given that our event takes place on Earth Day, April 22nd. Today, thanks to our partners at ModoLabs, we are excited to announce, for the first time ever, our official TEDxFoggyBottom app for Android and iOS.

2017 marks the first year of our Resident Artists initiative. Our event has always brought together a diverse array of speakers and performers with unique ideas. Our vision is to now highlight artists who have done exceptional work in the DC area in order to engage our attendees from a visual arts perspective. Through a careful and thoughtful selection process, our team has chosen artists whose artistic style we are deeply drawn to. We reached out to each of these artists to invite them to create an original piece of artwork, interpreting our 2017 event theme, In Metamorphosis. Each of these pieces are an original work of art made exclusively for our event. They are individually-numbered and will be exclusively distributed to TEDxFoggyBottom 2017 attendees. We are now very excited to finally be able to announce the artists with whom we are working this year.

Fast-forward almost two years later, as I climbed the steps of the Thurgood Marshall Center near U St. where Critical Exposure is located. Absorbed in planning for our 2017 event, it was a needed pause to rewind back to 2015 to catch up with one of my favorite speakers. Here’s the best part: Critical Exposure is thriving, building resources to create more school partnerships, more mentorship programs, and most importantly, more impact.

This year, we are trying something new based on feedback we have received from our attendees, as well as our speakers, from our past events. As past attendees may know, an integral part of our event is our three interactive exhibits, available at our venue during the break sessions of our event. These exhibits, built and curated by our Experience Team and our partners, allow our audience to engage with the important ideas of the day, from 3D printing to yoga. This year, in addition to these interactive exhibits, our Strategy Team will be organizing a networking space.